Luminous Landscape had the chance to play around with the tiny NEX-C3. But their article is by way the most interesting hands-on I found on the web (well done guys!). They wrote a couple of things I want to remark here. I want to hear your opinion on that!

This is the list of issues with the NEX-C3:

1) To make the C3 even smaller Sony has made a few design changes, not all of which I think are for the good. The SD card slot no longer shares the battery compartment, having its own bottom panel door. This is fine as far as it goes, but it does mean that if the camera is on a tripod or a mount accessory is attached, it will have to be removed.

2) The more cramped grip of the C3 as compared to the NEX-5 means that one is forced to hold the camera more tightly, and I constantly found myself accidentally pressing the bottom soft key with my palm, something that never happened with the NEX-5.

3) The NEX bodies are very small. But as already mentioned the lenses are still APS-C sized. To keep them within reason in terms of size they have modest maximum apertures. Even the pancake 16mm is just an f/2.8. So indoors, instead of ISO 400, for example, the C3 would have to shot at ISO1600 to ISO 3200, thus cutting its larger sensor advantage considerably. In my view the NEX series desperately needs faster lenses. But, to keep size down they should be primes.

4) Overall I find the NEX interface to be the least friendly and most unintuitive of any current camera. It neither aids the beginner not comforts the more advanced user.

5) When the NEX-5 was introduced I expressed my disappointment that an EVF was not available, but expected that one would be forthcoming. But a year later Sony has failed to satisfy this hope. The lack of an accessory EVF is to my mind a serious handycap for the NEX line thus far.

I recommend you to read the full artcile at Luminous Landscape (Click here). I think those are all valid point and I hope Sony will address them soon. The NEX-7 will maybe go in the right direction and solve some of those problems. And the Zeiss 24mm f/1.7 will be a welcome addition to the lens lineup. But we absolutely need more pancakes and a more professional camera as soon as possible! Thanks Luminous Landscape, and thanks Soy for listening ;)

Amateur Photographer (Click here) posted a full [shoplink 7207]NEX-C3[/shoplink] review. They start the rview with an interesting note: “the new C designation in the NEX-C3’s title stands for compact hints that Sony may plan another line in the NEX range in the future.“. What about the camera itself? AF is good but not as fast as the [shoplink 4718]Panasonic GH2[/shoplink]. What’s really good is the dynamic range: “What is particularly gratifying is that when shooting at ISO 200 and 400 images can be underexposed in camera to preserve highlight details, and then the in-camera dynamic range optimiser set to its highest setting to brighten shadow details, without introducing image noise. When doing this, colours are accurate and an impressive amount of detail can be recovered. ” The conclusion is that “it is quality of the images from this little camera that steals the show.”

UPDATE: There is a very well written first impression report on Luminous Landscape (Click here).

Focus Numerique (Click here to read the google english translation). posted the very first full [shoplink 7207]Sony NEX-C3[/shoplink] review! They tested the shutter noise (Click here) and they were not happy with it. it’s to loud. They tested the camera for a weak and noticed that the anti dust cleaning isn’t as good as the one used by Olympus. And also the OIS system is not as effective as the one used by Olympus. They also measured the LCD screen performance. Average brightness is 554:1 (little weak to see the images in outdoor). The image rendering is cold (12,400 K). Now the good news, AF works fast (0.4 sec) and the images form 200 to 1600 ISO are superb (that’s the word used by Focus Numerique). Rolling shutter on NEX-C3 videos are not really an issue (again a very good news!). Focus Numerique “recommends” the NEX-C3. Here is the screenshot of the Pro and Cons list (google English translation):

You can already preorder the new stuff!

Sony NEX-C3 BLACK at Amazon (Click here).
Sony NEX-C3 SILVER at Amazon (Click here).
Sony NEX-C3 PINK at Amazon (Click here).
Sony A35 body at Amazon (Click here).
Sony A35 with kit lens at Amazon (Click here).
Sony 30mm macro at Amazon (Click here).

The Sony NEX // Our Favorite New Camera from Rob & Lauren on Vimeo.

If you want to see a real field review instead of those chart-reviews take a look at Photographyconcentrate (Click here). They tested the NEX-5 for one month in Buenos Aires: “Whether you want a camera to take on your next trip, something to have at hand to practice your craft, or just a high quality option to take photos of your family, the NEX is the camera you’ve been looking for“.
Check NEX-5 price and availability at [shopcountry 3003].

Steve Huff (Click here) toke a first look on the SLR Magic 28 2.8 NEX “E” Mount Lens: “All I did was take a quick couple shots around the house at night, wide open at 2.8. What I found was that this lens is VERY Smooth to focus. Feels like a lens should feel when manual focusing. Also, it does seem like it will be soft at the edges at 2.8 but I hear it sharpens up as you stop it down.” The 28mm isn’t yet available for preorder. Link to SLR magic lenses on [shoplink 7109 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

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Two days ago Photoscala tested the Zeiss 24mm f/2.0 lens and was pretty disappointed. They compared the lens with the Nikon and Canon 24mm f/1.4 lenses. The Nikon an Canon lenses were both sharper than the Zeiss. But whcih is the best 24mm lens? Surprise, it’s the cheapest of all of them, the Sigma 24mm f/1.8 EX DG Macro!!! (Click here to read the full test at Photoscala). The user reviews on Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here) are quite positive. And also SLRgear (Click here) gave the lens a high rating! You can also take a look at a set of image samples on Flickr (Click here). So is the Sigma $549 lens really better than the Zeiss $1,249 lens? What do you think?

Check the Sigma 24mm availability and price by clicking those direct links: [shopcountry 7067].
And here are the links to the Zeiss 24mm f/2.0: [shopcountry 3037].

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We love measurebation or not? Than take a seat and read the full detailed and überwissenschaftliche review made by the from Photoscala (or click here to read the google english translation). Those german guys used three different software to analyze the lens: DxO Analyzer, IE Analyzer and Imatest! And now let’s drop the bomb. Photoscala says the lens is a not as good as they have expected from a Zeiss lens. The resolution of the other tested lenses, the [shoplink 7046]Canon 24mm f/1.4[/shoplink] and [shoplink 7047]Nikkor 24mm f/1.4[/shoplink] is much higher even wide open…at f/1.4! Only at medium apertures you get good results. There are also bigger issues with color aberrations. I have to say that I am very surprised to see such bad results. They might got a lens with production issues because the conclusion are quite the opposite we have seen at Photozone (Click here) where the lens gets Highly Recommended!!!
Check the lens price and availability at [shopcountry 3037].

There is also a new Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC review at Jhpvideotutorials (Click here). He used the lens on the Sony a55: “As you might have guessed this Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC lens is a little bit soft wide open at f/1.4, but still totally usable. The edges suffer the most from the softness, but the center of the frame is not to bad.”
Check the lens price and availability at [shopcountry 7044].

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You can read the full Sony A580 review at DPreview (Click here). It earns a very high score of 75% and a “Silver Award”. The Sony A55 sister got 76%. That’s a short excerpt of the conclusion: “The Sony DSLR-A580 is an excellent all-round performer that gets all the important stuff – image quality, metering, focus – right most of the time. Whether you like its slightly live-view centered design and user interface is pretty much a question of taste and shooting style.”

At that point I want to remind you that the Sony A580 is probably the last Sony camera having an optical viewfinder. The future is SLT (translucent technology with electronic viewfinder). The A77 and next fullframe cameras will be SLT models. As long as Sony can improve the electronic viewfinder technology that shouldn’t be a problem for any of us!

You can check the Sony A580 price and availability by clicking those direct links: [shopcountry 5509].
And here are the links for the SLT version, the A55: [shopcountry 3617].

Now you have a new reason to play a little bit with the DxO mark comparison tool. They just added the Sony 35mm f/1.4 G lens test results inside their database (Click here). And you can see how the lens performs when used on different cameras. See for example the Sony A900, A700 and A550 lens results (Click here). As you can see the lens is neither a winner neither a looser. I hope there will be soon an upgraded version, maybe a 35mm 1.4 Zeiss for Alpha? Let’s cross the finger!

Check the Sony 35mm f/1.4 price at [shopcountry 7016].